House adjourns early, postponing impeachment vote and AI debate until post-midterms

After a brief return from the August recess, the House of Representatives entered recess early, cancelling Thursday’s planned votes. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the schedule would be shifted by a day, effectively postponing a vote on eight impeachment articles that Rep. Thomas Massie filed against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The impeachment measure, introduced without prior notice to GOP leadership, required a vote within two legislative days, a deadline now pushed to the November session.

The early exit also halts a Democratic push to tackle a contentious artificial-intelligence issue. Lawmakers have logged only four days of work before Labor Day and three days this week, and will not return to Washington until after the midterm elections, allowing members to focus on campaigning. The Senate, by contrast, is slated to stay in session until early October.